William Cowper Collection (6 vols.)

by William Cowper; Thomas Wright

Publishers:

Hodder and Stoughton; Dodd, Mead and Company; T. Fisher Unwin

and

1 more

, 1892–1905

Overview

Oh! for a closer walk with God, A calm and heav’nly frame; A light to shine upon the road That leads me to the Lamb! —from “Walking with God,” Olney Hymns

 

The William Cowper Collection contains six volumes from the beloved poet and hymnodist. These volumes include his poems, hymns, poetry translations, and correspondence. His poems and hymns are deeply rooted in his faith, and his mixing of evangelical spirit and love for nature made him one of the most popular poets of his day. This collection includes the popular Olney Hymns, his collaboration with John Newton, author of “Amazing Grace.” It also contains his popular collection The Task, the epic poem Tirocinium, and over 100 miscellaneous poems and hymns.

It’s in Cowper’s letters, though, that we find some of his most profound statements about faith. A prolific letter writer, Cowper wrote candidly to friends and family. The four-volume Correspondence of William Cowper contains hundreds of Cowper’s letters, spanning more than 40 years and revealing a man who strived each day to walk further in his faith. Editor Thomas Wright, who assembled and annotated the letters, also wrote the biography of Cowper included here.

This is the ultimate William Cowper collection, containing all his poems, hymns, and correspondence. In the Logos edition, all Scripture passages are tagged and appear on mouse-over. For scholarly work or personal Bible study, this makes these texts more powerful and easier to access than ever before. Perform powerful searches by topic or Scripture reference—finding, for example, every mention of “faith” or “John 3:16.”

Key Features

• Oxford edition of The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper
• Four volumes of William Cowper’s letters
• The Life of William Cowper by editor Thomas Wright

Product Details

• Title: William Cowper Collection
• Volumes: 6
• Pages: 3,390

Individual Titles

• The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper
• The Correspondence of William Cowper Arranged in Chronological Order, with Annotations, vol. 1
• The Correspondence of William Cowper Arranged in Chronological Order, with Annotations, vol. 2
• The Correspondence of William Cowper Arranged in Chronological Order, with Annotations, vol. 3
• The Correspondence of William Cowper Arranged in Chronological Order, with Annotations, vol. 4
• The Life of William Cowper

The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper

• Author: William Cowper
• Editor: H. S. Milford
• Publisher: Henry Frowde
• Publication Date: 1905
• Pages: 672

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper contains all of William Cowper’s poems, hymns, and poetry translations. This volume includes:

• The Task, considered by many his best collection of poems
• The Olney Hymns, his collaboration with John Newton—author of “Amazing Grace”
• Classic poems such as “Table Talk,” “The Progress of Error,” “Tirocinium,” and “Retirement”
• Over 100 miscellaneous hymns
• Plus Cowper’s translations of dozens of Latin and Greek classics!

The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper also contains a bibliography of all his writings, a biographical table of his life events, an appendix filled with fragmentary and impromptu verses, and an index of first lines.

The Correspondence of William Cowper Arranged in Chronological Order, with Annotations, vol. 1

• Author: William Cowper
• Editor: Thomas Wright
• Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
• Publication Date: 1904
• Pages: 497

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

William Cowper was as one of the greatest English letter writers. The Correspondence of William Cowper contains hundreds of letters that Cowper sent to family and friends. These letters reveal not only his acts and surroundings but also the workings of his innermost mind. While Cowper himself—the shy, lovable, self-torturing, playful, just, honorable, and warm-hearted poet—is the center of this correspondence, the personalities of his correspondents are as vivid as characters from a Dickens novel. Volume one contains letters from the years 1753 to 1782.

The Correspondence of William Cowper Arranged in Chronological Order, with Annotations, vol. 2

• Author: William Cowper
• Editor: Thomas Wright
• Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
• Publication Date: 1904
• Pages: 495

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

William Cowper was one of the greatest English letter writers. The Correspondence of William Cowper contains hundreds of letters that Cowper sent to family and friends. These letters reveal not only his acts and surroundings but also the workings of his innermost mind. While Cowper himself—the shy, lovable, self-torturing, playful, just, honorable, and warm-hearted poet—is the center of this correspondence, the personalities of his correspondents are as vivid as characters from a Dickens novel. Volume two contains letters from the years 1783 to 1786.

The Correspondence of William Cowper Arranged in Chronological Order, with Annotations, vol. 3

• Author: William Cowper
• Editor: Thomas Wright
• Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
• Publication Date: 1904
• Pages: 495

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

William Cowper was one of the greatest English letter writers. The Correspondence of William Cowper contains hundreds of letters that Cowper sent to family and friends. These letters reveal not only his acts and surroundings but also the workings of his innermost mind. While Cowper himself—the shy, lovable, self-torturing, playful, just, honorable, and warm-hearted poet—is the center of this correspondence, the personalities of his correspondents are as vivid as characters from a Dickens novel. Volume three contains letters from the years 1786 to 1790.

The Correspondence of William Cowper Arranged in Chronological Order, with Annotations, vol. 4

• Author: William Cowper
• Editor: Thomas Wright
• Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
• Publication Date: 1904
• Pages: 550

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

William Cowper was one of the greatest English letter writers. The Correspondence of William Cowper contains hundreds of letters that Cowper sent to family and friends. These letters reveal not only his acts and surroundings but also the workings of his innermost mind. While Cowper himself—the shy, lovable, self-torturing, playful, just, honorable, and warm-hearted poet—is the center of this correspondence, the personalities of his correspondents are as vivid as characters from a Dickens novel. Volume four contains letters from the years 1790 to 1799.

The Life of William Cowper

• Author: Thomas Wright
• Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin
• Publication Date: 1892
• Pages: 681

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The Life of William Cowper deals exhaustively with the poet’s life, compiling not only the various discoveries of previous biographies but also a large number of previously unavailable facts. Wright had access to the whole of Cowper’s correspondence and was able to read it in chronological order, which no previous biographer was able to do. The biography begins with Cowper’s birth in 1731, traces his early education, gives an account of the three years Cowper “misspent” working in an attorney’s office, and continues through all of Cowper’s travels. Cowper’s struggle with depression is explored in depth, as is his relationship with John Newton and with his “adopted” family, the Unwins.

The standard biography of Cowper.

—Daily News

Mr. Wrights Cowper puts all former lives of the poet in the shade.

—Saturday Review

Mr. Wright has pursued a new method in reading Cowper’s correspondence in consecutive order, and claims to thereby have discovered what may be described as the central incident of the poet’s life. This incident was a dream.

—The Times

One of the most ambitious works of the kind.

—Scotsman

Deeply interesting.

—Daily Telegraph

A book of unflagging interest.

—Literary World

Mr. Wright has given us a better picture of Cowper at home than has been drawn by any other biographer.

—Standard

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About William Cowper

William Cowper (1731–1800) was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. Studying for a career in law, he was offered a clerkship of journals in the House of Lords in 1763. Before he could take his final exams, he suffered a mental breakdown and spent time in an asylum to recover from several suicide attempts. It was after his recovery that he moved in with the Unwin family—a retired clergyman and his wife. Through this family he would meet John Newton, and the two of them would collaborate on the Olney Hymns. Cowper continued to battle depression, but he also continued to write and publish poems; he was a prolific letter writer. In 1786, Cowper began translating Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey into blank verse. They were published to great acclaim in 1791. Over the next years, he would take on other translation projects, including works of Greek and Italian poetry. In 1800, Cowper was suddenly hit with edema and passed away. He was buried in the chapel of St. Thomas of Canterbury, St. Nicholas Church, East Dereham.

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Key Features

• Oxford edition of The Complete Poetical Works of William Cowper
• Four volumes of William Cowper’s letters
• The Life of William Cowper by editor Thomas Wright

Product Details

• Title: William Cowper Collection
• Volumes: 6
• Pages: 3,390

About William Cowper

William Cowper (1731–1800) was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. Studying for a career in law, he was offered a clerkship of journals in the House of Lords in 1763. Before he could take his final exams, he suffered a mental breakdown and spent time in an asylum to recover from several suicide attempts. It was after his recovery that he moved in with the Unwin family—a retired clergyman and his wife. Through this family he would meet John Newton, and the two of them would collaborate on the Olney Hymns. Cowper continued to battle depression, but he also continued to write and publish poems; he was a prolific letter writer. In 1786, Cowper began translating Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey into blank verse. They were published to great acclaim in 1791. Over the next years, he would take on other translation projects, including works of Greek and Italian poetry. In 1800, Cowper was suddenly hit with edema and passed away. He was buried in the chapel of St. Thomas of Canterbury, St. Nicholas Church, East Dereham.